“It’s a really tough rental market in London, particularly that bottom income market who have seen little to no growth in their incomes for many, many years,” Abe Oudshoorn, chair of the London Homeless Coalition, said Wednesday.

“Rental housing markets are bad for renters and great for landlords. The availability of units is very tight, particularly in the more affordable end of things.”

Two-thirds, or 67 per cent of low-income Londoners spend more than half their income just to keep a roof over their head and the heat and electricity on, according to the Canadian Rental Housing Index, a database that compiles rental housing statistics across Canada.

In Canada, the threshold for what’s considered affordable housing is spending 30 per cent or less of income on housing.

For the hardest-hit demographic, those making an average income of less than $12,000, a studio apartment in London will eat up 53 per cent of their income and a one-bedroom unit would take 62 per cent, according to the latest figures from the rental housing index, which are based on the 2016 census.

The information is designed to provide a “data driven foundation for policy-making decisions at all levels of government,” according to the group behind the index, which is a coalition of non-profit housing associations across Canada.

Oudshoorn said the data outlines a real crisis.

“The folks represented in that lowest income bracket, the majority of those folks are on a fixed income . . . and those incomes have either been held annually steady or increased by very small amounts,” Oudshoorn said.

“The rental market, on the other hand, has been very strong. Even in rent-controlled units, (rents) are growing at 2.3 to 2.5 per cent (a year).”

Across Ontario, which leads Canada for the number of renters spending half or more of their income on housing, those in the lowest-income demographic are spending an average 57 per cent of their income for a studio apartment and 64 per cent for a one bedroom.

The average rent in Ontario, for all units, is slightly more than $1,100 a month, including utilities.

“I think the very simple solution for this is to have a conversation about what an appropriate social assistance rate is,” Oudshoorn said.

“We’re moving from people being in poverty on social assistance to being in deep poverty on social assistance which, in the long term, is no good for anyone. It doesn’t allow people to be healthy or participate in society or improve their living conditions. It’s really setting people up for failure.”

Jeff Schlemmer, a London lawyer and housing advocate, said shelter allowances for those on disability have not kept pace with the rental market.

“For some time people have been using food money to pay for rent, which is not healthy for them obviously,” he said. “There’s been a lot of talk about building more affordable housing, but it hasn’t really happened in any numbers that are proportionate to the problem.”

During a housing boom, which London and much of Ontario has seen in recent years, renters with the least income get squeezed the hardest.

“As the market goes up, it’s people at the bottom end who are going to feel it first,” Schlemmer said.